Connect with us: Student-guided learning communities bridging the digital divide
Linda Seiter, Associate Professor, John Carroll University [lseiter@jcu.edu]
Tracee Patterson, Program Coordinator, Center For Service and Social Action, John Carroll University [tpatterson@jcu.edu]
Marc Kirschenbaum, Professor, John Carroll University [kirsch@jcu.edu]
Keywords: Technology, refugees, social inclusion, first year seminar, cultural understanding, knowledge sharing
Summary
Technology can be a powerful tool for fostering social inclusion. Through a series of service learning workshops with refugee families, undergraduate students share their knowledge of technology while exploring concepts of digital literacy and social justice.
John Carroll University partners with two refugee resettlement organizations to host a series of technology-tasting events called “Connect with US.” The events involve several dozen families of refugees, with each refugee partnered with an undergraduate student who provides hands-on instruction on topics such as basic keyboarding, resume construction, job searching, social media, and database construction.
The “Connect with US” service learning events were integrated into two courses: First Year Seminar and Introduction to Database. The First Year Seminar is open to all freshmen and is organized around the theme “Digital Media and Social Justice”. Personal student reflections written before and after the service learning events showed an evolved comprehension of the relationship between digital literacy, opportunity and equality. The database course is targeted to computer science majors. Positive outcomes from service learning include a better understanding of the course material gained from having to explain the material to another person. A second outcome exposed how seriously students approached their one-on-one interaction with the “Connect with US” participants. Some of the less-mature students acted professionally and gained experience from helping others use and understand technology. This also provides the undergraduate students valuable experience of working with real technology users who confront barriers when trying to gather content. By fostering an awareness of these barriers, we hope to motivate students to build technology that is inclusive to other cultures.
Universities turn to technology to explore concepts of social justice through service learning. Undergraduate students are digital natives, having interacted with technology from an early age. “Connect with US” challenges students to share their powerful knowledge of technology, encouraging them to consider how other cultures are affected by technology and how they might help build a more inclusive world.
References
Carvin, A. (2000). More than just access: Fitting literacy and content into the digital divide equation. EDUCAUSE Review, November/December, 38-47.
Cleary, P., Pierce, G., & Trauth, E. (2006). Closing the digital divide: understanding racial, ethnic, social class, gender and geographic disparities in Internet use among school age children in the United States. Universal Access in the Information Society, 4(4), 354-373.
DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2004). Digital inequality: From unequal access to differntiated use. In K. Neckerman (Ed.), Social inequality. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Federal Communications Commission. (2012). National Broadband Plan Connecting America. Retrieved from www.broadband.gov/plan.
Guthrie, K., & McCracken, H. (2010). Teaching and learning social justice through online service-learning courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11(3), 78-94.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2000). National telecommunications and information administration. Falling through the net: Toward digital inclusion. Retrieved from www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/
publications/fttn00.pdf.
Warchauser, M. (2003). Technology and social Inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
To access materials from this session please click on the file link(s) below:
Linda Seiter, Associate Professor, John Carroll University [lseiter@jcu.edu]
Tracee Patterson, Program Coordinator, Center For Service and Social Action, John Carroll University [tpatterson@jcu.edu]
Marc Kirschenbaum, Professor, John Carroll University [kirsch@jcu.edu]
Keywords: Technology, refugees, social inclusion, first year seminar, cultural understanding, knowledge sharing
Conference track: Higher education student outcomes
Format: Poster presentation
Summary
Technology can be a powerful tool for fostering social inclusion. Through a series of service learning workshops with refugee families, undergraduate students share their knowledge of technology while exploring concepts of digital literacy and social justice.
John Carroll University partners with two refugee resettlement organizations to host a series of technology-tasting events called “Connect with US.” The events involve several dozen families of refugees, with each refugee partnered with an undergraduate student who provides hands-on instruction on topics such as basic keyboarding, resume construction, job searching, social media, and database construction.
The “Connect with US” service learning events were integrated into two courses: First Year Seminar and Introduction to Database. The First Year Seminar is open to all freshmen and is organized around the theme “Digital Media and Social Justice”. Personal student reflections written before and after the service learning events showed an evolved comprehension of the relationship between digital literacy, opportunity and equality. The database course is targeted to computer science majors. Positive outcomes from service learning include a better understanding of the course material gained from having to explain the material to another person. A second outcome exposed how seriously students approached their one-on-one interaction with the “Connect with US” participants. Some of the less-mature students acted professionally and gained experience from helping others use and understand technology. This also provides the undergraduate students valuable experience of working with real technology users who confront barriers when trying to gather content. By fostering an awareness of these barriers, we hope to motivate students to build technology that is inclusive to other cultures.
Universities turn to technology to explore concepts of social justice through service learning. Undergraduate students are digital natives, having interacted with technology from an early age. “Connect with US” challenges students to share their powerful knowledge of technology, encouraging them to consider how other cultures are affected by technology and how they might help build a more inclusive world.
References
Carvin, A. (2000). More than just access: Fitting literacy and content into the digital divide equation. EDUCAUSE Review, November/December, 38-47.
Cleary, P., Pierce, G., & Trauth, E. (2006). Closing the digital divide: understanding racial, ethnic, social class, gender and geographic disparities in Internet use among school age children in the United States. Universal Access in the Information Society, 4(4), 354-373.
Cooper, M. (2010). The challenge of digital exlusion in America: A review of the social science literature and its implications for the National Broadband Plan. Retrieved from http://www.markcooperresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Digital_Exclusion_in_America.pdf.
DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2004). Digital inequality: From unequal access to differntiated use. In K. Neckerman (Ed.), Social inequality. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Federal Communications Commission. (2012). National Broadband Plan Connecting America. Retrieved from www.broadband.gov/plan.
Guthrie, K., & McCracken, H. (2010). Teaching and learning social justice through online service-learning courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11(3), 78-94.
Lazarus, W., & Mora, F. (2000). Online content for low-income and underserved americans: The digital divide's new frontier. (C. Partnership, Ed.) Retrieved from http://www.childrenspartnership.org/pub/low_income/index.html.
Seifer, S., & Vye Mihalynuk, T. (2005, May). The use of technology in higher education service-learning. Retrieved from http://www.servicelearning.org/use-technology-higher-education-service-learning.
Smith, A., Lehman Schlozman, K., Verba, S., & Brady, H. (2009, September). The internet and civic engagement. (P. I. Project, Ed.) Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/15--The-Internet-and-Civic-Engagement.aspx.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2000). National telecommunications and information administration. Falling through the net: Toward digital inclusion. Retrieved from www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/
publications/fttn00.pdf.
Warchauser, M. (2003). Technology and social Inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
To access materials from this session please click on the file link(s) below: